Picturesque California and the region west of the Rocky Mountains, from Alaska to Mexico. Edited by John Muir. Containing over six hundred beautiful etchings, photo-gravures, wood engravings, etc., by eminent American artists. Volume I. San Francisco and New York: The J. Dewing Company, Publishers, MDCCCLXXXVIII [i.e. 1888-1890]. 41x30.7 cm (folio), 30 parts: pp. [i-iv] v-xii [1] 2-478, 120 plates, each with a printed plate guard, other illustrations in the text, some printed in blue or brown, text leaves and plates glued into pictorial gray wrappers with overlapping edges printed in black, the first six numbers with small medallions printed in blue-green and brown on the front covers. First edition, first printing. Wrappers of parts 1-6 imprinted: "The J. Dewing Company, Publishers;" wrappers of parts 7-30 imprinted: "The J. Dewing Publishing Company." A second title page issued with part 30 reads: "Edited by John Muir. Picturesque California: The Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Slope ... New York and San Francisco: J. Dewing Publishing Company, [1888]." Issued by subscription in a variety of formats. Despite the title page and copyright dates, this work was published between 1888 and 1890. During the course of publication The J. Dewing Company was succeeded by J. Dewing Publishing Company. Later still the firm name reverted to the J. Dewing Company. The J. Dewing Company imprint appears on the printed wrappers of the earliest parts and on the title page of Volume I of the first printing. All other formats are presumed reprints. Muir contributed seven articles to this work, three on the High Sierra and Yosemite Valley. These contributions, "Peaks and Glaciers of the High Sierra," "The Passes of the High Sierra," and "The Yosemite Valley," are based on earlier magazine and newspaper articles. The 120 plates feature a stunning array of etchings and photogravures from works by American artists, including Thomas Moran, Julian Rix, Frederic Remington, Thomas Hill, C. D. Robinson, William Keith, W. B. Styles, Harry Fenn and many others. Cowan (1933), p.486. Currey and Kruska 257 (Format A). Kimes 167. BAL 14744. The contents of each part, 4 plates with plate guard and text leaves of heavy glossy paper stock, were glued into lightweight paper wrappers with overlapping edges, in some cases with cloth gauze reinforcement along the spine, but mostly with no reinforcement. As the glue and gauze deteriorated over the years, the wrappers are detached and split along spine fold and the contents are loose. There is some mild chipping to wrapper edges and a few leaves in part 2 have short closed tears in margins; part 9 has a plate bound upside down, part 17 has the frontispiece bound upside down. Some of the paper wrappers have been professionally mended. Part 2 is very good, the remainder are nearly fine; the plates are in excellent condition as are the plate guards. An excellent copy overall; complete sets in the original wrappers are rare. Enclosed in three custom cloth clamshell boxes. (#167064).
No statement of printing.